Hysteria
by MistressMacha
Summary: There's a serial rapist and killer targeting affluent young women in New York, and it's not only working the entire city up into a dangerous frenzy, it's also starting to threaten Elliot's relationship with Olivia... E/O, rated M for graphic violence.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: It's a new story for you! I hope you all like it, and send me a review to let me know. Inspiration struck unexpectedly in the Target in Brooklyn yesterday, so I knocked this out in a few hours. Give it a read and let me know what you think and if it's worth continuing with._**

**_inspirationimagination and courtneylovejason - thank you SO MUCH for your encouragement. You gave me the kick I needed to finally push aside the 'Oh-God-What-If-Everyone-Hates-It' fear, and to just publish the thing. So here you are - consider this chapter for you.  
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**_NB: The speech marks key on my computer does not work, hence the apostrophes._**

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**RECORD HEATWAVE FORECAST, NY CITIZENS WARNED**

Fuck, but he loved Union Square. Lots of expensive apartments full of lovely expensive things, belonging to young people who never even thought twice about leaving the windows looking onto the fire escape open on warm nights, even when they were out of the house, which they always were on a Saturday evening...

And the best thing was, the valuable stuff was always so portable, what with the usual MacBooks, iPads, iPods and other i-whatevers. He never seemed to find much in the way of PCs though. Maybe it was considered fashionable to buy electronics named for a kind of fruit. He couldn't see why else these morons would be shitting themselves over the chance to drop nearly a grand on the Next Big Thing.

That was the problem. People these days had too much money, and they wasted it. They didn't deserve it, wasting it on faddy electronics and crappy cheap beer and expensive cocktails and fancy handbags and overpriced 'vintage', and of course those stupid glasses which didn't even have any lenses in...

He picked his way around the cramped apartment, which some sleazy rental guy had clearly described as 'bijou' or something equally bullshitty, and whoever lived here had clearly fallen for his schtick because they'd taken on this dump. I mean, come on, to get to the bedroom you had to go through the kitchen, and who'd want that? Stupid pretentious rich cheating selfish-

Oh shit.

The rich bitch who lived here was actually home.

He paused in the door of her bedroom, deciding whether he should run or not. Normally he wouldn't even have to think about it, he'd always made a swift exit before whenever he'd had the misfortune to find someone home, but... this girl...

She was asleep in her bed, the covers kicked off and her legs apart as if she had known that he was coming, as if she had been waiting for him. Her blonde hair was mussed up against the pillows and her pale blue nightdress was slightly bunched up on one side, exposing an extra few inches of pale thigh. As he watched she sighed and turned onto her side, the hem of her nightdress riding up and revealing the first hint of the curve of her young, perfect, expensively-yoga-honed ass.

It was as if she was offering herself to him, really...

Before he knew it he was on top of her, straddling her and forcing one hand under her nightdress and into her underwear, shoving his fingers into her and feeling her tear.

_Oh God oh God oh God... Who was he? Why was he in her apartment? His hands were under her nightdress and ripping at her crotch, and she screamed. Run, Sarah, run, scream and shout and kick him..._

She woke and started screaming like a stuck pig, and he swore to himself. It hadn't occurred to him that she might scream, and she took advantage of his surprise by pushing him roughly aside and running for the door.

_She threw herself across the room towards the kitchen, grabbing for anything that she could use as a weapon. Just make it to the phone, you can ring 911, you don't even have to say anything, just scream and they'll come, they'll save you, come on..._

Oh, no, you don't.

_Oh God he's right behind me oh God..._

He was jumping up and running after her, grabbing her hair and twisting it around his hand as she screamed, finally yanking down hard and throwing her onto her back on the kitchen floor.

_Oh God, OK, Sarah, just scream, scream as loud as you can and someone will hear you, someone has to hear you, they have to..._

'Shut the hell up, you stupid bitch!' He sat astride her and shoved his hand down between her legs again, but she still wouldn't stop screaming and wriggling and scratching at his face. Jesus, what is her problem?

_Fight him, Sarah, fight him off, you did Self Defence For Women for six weeks at the gym, remember, it was right before Pilates, come on, you can do this... She gritted her teeth and lashed out with all her might. You can do this, Sarah..._

One of her nails caught on his cheek and scraped painfully across the skin, and he swore again as he felt a trickle of blood run down his face. 'Oh, fuck you, bitch, you'll pay for this...'

_A cold rush of fear spread through her body. Please don't kill me, oh please, please don't kill me, oh God what if he grabs one of my knives and stabs me, they're right there, oh God, maybe he won't see them, please don't let him see them..._

She was glancing away from him and he felt another flash of anger before he followed her gaze and saw the knife rack on the kitchen counter.

_He's seen them. Oh God, he's seen them..._

Perfect.

He stretched up and grabbed the nearest knife and dragged it slowly across her throat, opening up the skin. 'How do you like that, huh, you stupid useless bitch?'

_Oh God, oh God, it hurts, it hurts... _

Oh God, she was still struggling. It wasn't meant to be this difficult! In films, they stabbed them and they just died! At least she'd stopped screaming. She was still trying as she writhed around on the floor clutching at her throat, but no sound was coming out. That was one improvement, anyway.

_Why can't I scream anymore, oh God, I can't die, I'm ME..._

Now, though, he'd lost interest in the idea of fucking her.

_Beg him, Sarah, make him feel guilty, make him feel that he has to let you go, make him feel sorry for you..._

He looked into her eyes and saw the pleading look in them, and he smiled reassuringly at her and stroked the side of her face before he plunged the knife into her chest. She gasped, but she was still thrashing around, and now she was clawing at his face again.

_She coughed and her mouth filled with blood. Oh, no, no, no... no..._

God damn it.

He looked at her chest and tried to work out where her heart would be, and then he forced the knife into her again. This time was more difficult. It took both hands to push it into her.

_Oh... oh, no... She felt the blade biting into her ribs as it punctured her left lung. Oh no..._

God, this was even hotter than if he'd just fucked her.

For fuck's sake, why won't she just die? He tossed the knife aside, grabbed her neck and began to choke her, banging the back of her head repeatedly against the tiled floor. 'You stupid useless bitch, why won't you just die?'

_Oh God... I can't breathe... She could feel her arms and legs growing heavier. Oh God... Hold on, Sarah, hold on, you're not going to die..._

She was still staring at him, silently pleading with him, but her struggles were finally beginning to slow a little.

_She was so tired. Fight him... fight him... do something... oh God... oh... Her head started to swim. No... please... no..._

Thank God. His fingers were starting to ache. Why did no one ever tell you how hard it was to choke someone?

_I... my heart... too slow... oh God..._

He leaned forward and put all his weight on her neck, bashing the back of her head against the floor as hard as he could, waiting impatiently for her to just stop struggling and lie still.

_Her vision had started to blur. Oh... God..._

God damn this bitch. If he ever did this again then he'd come prepared. This was much more difficult than he'd imagined it would be.

_I... The world around her was fading. I..._

There was blood coming out of her ears and nose now, bubbling out of her mouth as she gasped, spreading in a dark pool across the floor behind her head, but she was still weakly clawing at his fingers, even as her eyes were beginning to glaze.

_I... She was barely alive as he smiled down at her, her heart faltering as it slowed to a stop and her hands finally slipping away from his._

He would do this again. It was better than anything he could have ever imagined. In fact, he was almost certain that he'd already come inside his boxers, and if he hadn't then he certainly would afterwards.

_She heard him laughing softly to himself as she died, a long, shallow death rattle escaping her throat._

God, this was better than porn.

She was still now, staring up at him with glazed, empty eyes, but he kept choking her, enjoying the feeling of his hands crushing her throat. God, he loved this.

Suddenly he realised that he was kneeling in a wet puddle on the floor.

God DAMN IT! In the movies they never told you that they pissed themselves afterwards!

He swore and jumped to his feet. 'God DAMN you, FUCK YOU, you ungrateful BITCH!' He kicked her hard in the head, and then stood quietly for a minute, looking down at her still, bloodied and now undoubtedly dead body as it lay silently at his feet. He couldn't believe that he'd only come here to try and jack a laptop and maybe an iPod or two.

He couldn't believe that he'd ever considered just leaving.

He'd taken her life. Half an hour ago she had been alive, and breathing, and now she was cold and dead on the floor of her stupid 'bijou' apartment, nothing but a useless mound of rotting flesh and bone...

He had done this.

He looked down at her body again and nudged the side of her face tentatively with the toe of his shoe, and her head turned slightly away from him, her eyes still open and fixed. A stream of blood ran out of her mouth and pooled on the floor beneath her.

Oh my God, he had done this.

He had to take a piece of this, something to remember her by. His first.

Actually that was perfect. His first. She was his first.

(God knows it was better than losing his virginity had ever been, hearing that girl laughing at him afterwards with her friends.)

This girl wouldn't be laughing at him, God no, not now that she'd gone and pissed herself in front of him, stupid dirty bitch...

His eyes landed on the pale gold necklace that hung around her throat, partly embedded in the shallow, half-assed cut that he had made with the kitchen knife.

Perfect.

He carefully unfastened it and slipped it into his pocket before silently making his way to the door and letting himself out.

**_A/N: What do you think? It's kind of a nasty one I know, but is it too much?_**

**_Send me a review and let me know what you think, and whether you think I should write more or just scrap it._**

**_Thanks so much for reading!_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: So, I finally have another chapter for you... what can I say, sometimes life just gets in the way. This one's more focused on establishing the current status of the relationship between Elliot and Olivia, so the tone is a little different, but hopefully those of you who enjoyed the first chapter will like this one too.**_

_**inspirationimagination - as my sole reviewer for chapter 1, consider this chapter for you. Your review was awesome, and it meant that I felt confident enough in the story's potential to keep writing it, so thanks. I'm glad that you enjoyed the slightly different perspective I took in describing it - I wasn't sure if that would work or not, but it did. Also, the parallels between the victim and Olivia - totally intended, so well spotted. Thanks for the confidence boost.  
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**_Anyway, I hope you like this chapter too, and please send me a review to let me know what you think!_  
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**GRAMERCY ACTRESS SLAYING: BOYFRIEND HELD**

Elliot rolled over onto his side and opened his eyes, squinting as the light from the window hit him. _What time is it?_ He glanced over at the clock and swore to himself. _Jesus... it's only 6.30am and it's already hot enough to make me want to spend the day standing under a cold shower..._ They'd left the blankets off the bed last night and slept naked, leaving the apartment window open, but he could still feel the sheets sticking to him.

Next to him Olivia shifted and muttered something in her sleep, and he smiled at her and began to stroke the small of her back, her bare skin warm beneath his fingers. _I know that you hate it when I say this, but you're always so beautiful first thing in the morning... _ He wished that he could stay over at her apartment more, be able to see her like this more, but...

He sighed. _It just wasn't practical. _

He had to be content with a few nights here and there, and he'd had to accept that. Sometimes he thought about how wonderful it would be to come home with her on a Friday and spend the entire weekend lying in bed, talking and laughing and kissing... but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He sighed again, leaned over and kissed her cheek, breathing in the smell of her hair. _It was ridiculous that they'd been a couple for almost three years and they still had to sneak around like a pair of horny teenagers._

He felt her move and smiled to himself, beginning to kiss the side of her face and neck, running his hand up her spine to stroke the side of her face. She smiled and took his hand in hers, pulling it towards her mouth to kiss it, and he pressed his lips against her forehead. 'Morning, Liv.'

She opened her eyes and smiled sleepily at him. 'Morning, El.'

He smiled again and kissed her, feeling her tightening her grip around his hand, moving her other hand up to the back of his neck and stroking it with her thumb as her tongue darted in and out of his mouth and he slid his hand down to her waist, pulling her body tightly against his as she parted her knees, wrapping one leg across the back of his thighs. 'Oh, Liv...'

_Oh shit, my goddamn cellphone is ringing..._

He rubbed his eyes, sat up and felt around on the bedside table for it, hearing Olivia muttering irritably to herself. _For fuck's sake, where... ah, got it._ He flipped it open and held it against his ear, stifling a yawn. 'Stabler.'

There was a pause at the other end of the phone. 'Oh, sorry Elliot, I must have dialled your number by mistake. I was looking for Liv.'

'Wha-' _Oh shit. Oh shit._ He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it. It was Olivia's. _Oh shit. Oh holy shit. OK, act normal._ 'Morning, Fin... uh, is it anything that I can help you with?'

'I was sure I dialled Liv's number, but...' Fin sounded confused. 'I needed to call you too anyway, though, so it's no problem. Elliot, there's an important case that's come up-'

Olivia sat up and stretched. 'Who is it?' Suddenly her eyes widened. 'Oh my God, Elliot, is that my phone?'

Elliot made frantic shushing motions. 'Sssshhh, keep your voice down, it's Fin!'

'I'm sorry, Elliot, am I interrupting something?' He could hear a hint of impatience in Fin's voice.

_Oh shit, what if he heard her voice? This can't get out. It can't. It just can't. It'll ruin everything._ 'Uh, no, don't worry, I was just talking to Kathy.' He felt Olivia tense and she drew away from him, grabbing the edge of the sheet and awkwardly pulling it up to cover herself. _Oh, for God's sake, what would you rather I say?_ He forced down a surge of irritation and tried to concentrate. 'What's this about?'

'Something's come up, and Cragen says that everyone has to come in. Now. It's important.'

_That doesn't sound good._ 'What case?'

'That thing up in Union Square last week. You know, that young actress who was murdered in her apartment.'

_Actress my arse, she was a spoiled rich girl living off Daddy's dime._ 'I thought they collared the boyfriend for that.'

He heard Fin sigh. 'They did, but now some other girl's just come forward and told us that he was with her the whole night.'

_Shit. I knew that was too easy._ 'Well, could she be lying?' _It would make life so much easier if she was..._

'No, her roommate confirmed it. They got home at around 8, went straight to the girl's room and didn't come out again for the rest of the night. The guy's a creep, but he's not a murdering creep.'

Elliot sighed. 'OK, I'll be in as soon as I can.' He hung up and handed Olivia her phone, unable to look her in the eye. 'Fin's going to call in a minute. Try and act surprised.' He climbed out of bed and headed towards the bathroom, hearing her phone starting to ring as he closed the door quietly behind him.

_God, you're a moron._ He turned on the tap and splashed cold water on his face, listening to the low murmuring of her voice in the next room. _You have a great thing going on here, Elliot. Don't ruin it now. She's the best thing that's ever happened to you, and you know it. _

Suddenly he heard the sound of her clearing her throat. 'Elliot?'

_Oh no, she doesn't sound happy..._ He took a deep breath. 'Yes?'

'Elliot, can you come in here?' Her voice was dangerously calm. That was always a bad sign.

_Oh no..._

She was sitting on the bed with her phone in her lap, staring at him coldly. 'So, do you want to explain to me what just happened?'

Elliot felt an unpleasant twinge of shame. _It was the same tone of voice he used on his kids when he'd caught them doing something they shouldn't._ 'Look, Liv, I'm sorry, I was tired and it was an accident-'

'Oh, for fuck's sake!' She cut him off angrily mid-sentence. 'God, Elliot, how could you be so stupid?'

'Look, I'm sorry, I was half-asleep and I just-'

'This is why we have different ringtones, Elliot! What, do you want to get caught?' _Don't play games with me by making me think that. It hurts._

'No, I-'

'Because you know what? It's not just your reputation on the line here, it's mine as well. I won't be known as a cheap little homewrecker, Elliot, because I'm not.' _...Am I?_

'I know.' _I'm so sorry that you feel that way, but I don't really know what I can do about it. _'I know that you're not, Liv, and I-'

'Then for God's sake, just try to think before you act.' _And I don't just mean with your dick._

'Olivia...' _I wish I'd met you first, believe me, but..._

She sighed, and suddenly all the fight seemed to go out of her. 'Actually, you know what, Elliot?' She looked up at him sadly. 'Maybe it's time that we did get caught.'

_Oh God, not again. I knew this was coming. _ 'Come on, Liv, please...'

'No, Elliot. I'm sick of all the sneaking around. No matter how many times you tell me that your marriage is a sham and you're just friends who happen to sleep in the same bed for the sake of your children, it's not enough. The lease on my apartment is running out soon and I think that you should seriously consider moving out of Glen Oaks and finding a place with me.'

_Why do you keep doing this to me? Why can't you just be happy with what we have? You're the most important thing in my life, but I still have five children to think about, and if being with you means that we have to do things a little differently, then so be it! _ 'Liv, we've been through this-'

'I know we have, but you still have to think about it.' She tossed her phone into her bag and got up, wrapping the sheet more tightly around herself. 'Because whatever you might want to believe, Elliot, I am not going to wait around forever for you.'

**_A/N: What do you think? Send me a quick review and let me know!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N:I managed to get another chapter done for you before I have to get on my long haul flight back to Ireland later (I'm hoping to finally finish the next chapter of Heritage on the flight, but it depends if there's anyone sitting next to me because of the subject matter...) Thanks so much for all your reviews on the last one, and I'm glad that you all seem to be looking forward to how everything's developing. I managed to get some Munch and Fin into this chapter, which made me happy because I love their dynamic (and Munch in particular entertains me a lot.)_**

**_inspirationimagination - I'm so happy that you liked the last chapter as much as the one before. I agree with you that Fin seems to be the one most aware of the chemistry going on between Elliot and Olivia so I wanted him to be the one to call because of that, but also because he probably wouldn't mention it unless one of the others brought it up first. It might be enough to act as the catalyst for them to finally decide what the hell they're doing and where they want it to go, but like you said, Elliot is unlikely to be the one to push it. As far as he can see, everything's just fine the way it is, but Olivia of course has the ticking clock in her head... so she'll have to think about what she wants more._**

**_JAX001993 - I'm glad you enjoyed it and are interested in how their relationship is going to develop. I'm interested in that myself, so we'll see where it goes._**

**_nanite and Hutch917 - Thanks, and I intend to!_**

**_Anyway, give it a read, I hope you enjoy it, and as ever don't forget to let me know what you think!_**

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**BOYFRIEND CLEARED IN TRAGIC SARAH CASE, NO OTHER LEADS  
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Everyone else was already in the squadroom by the time Elliot got there, still cursing the idiot in the coach who had managed to spin out and block the Henry Hudson Parkway. _Great, let's just make sure that everyone thinks you're a useless moron before we've even gotten started._ He sighed. At least he'd managed to patch things up a little with Olivia before she left.

Cragen looked up and shot him a glare as he walked in. 'Nice of you to decide to join us, Elliot.'

'Yeah, I'm sorry, everything was backed up on the Hen-' He caught himself just in time. _You wouldn't be driving that way if you were coming from Glen Oaks._ 'On Queens Boulevard.'

'That's funny, I just came in that way from Jackson Heights and it was fine,' said Munch thoughtfully.

_Shit._ 'Uh...'

'What were you doing in Jackson Heights?' asked Fin incredulously.

Munch sighed wistfully. 'A pretty Dominican girl named Hilda.'

_Ew._ Elliot concentrated on trying to suppress the urge to gag. He glanced around the room and everyone else seemed to be having much the same problem. _Oh well, at least it took the heat off me._

'Lovely.' Fin grimaced.

'What? You asked!' He paused and smiled. 'And she was.'

'You are one creepy son of a bitch sometimes, you know that?' Fin shook his head and then glanced over at Elliot. 'Hey, Elliot, you seen Liv?'

_Sure, when I woke up this morning she was the first thing I saw. I watched her walk to the bathroom naked, I watched get dressed, I saw her smile at me as she slipped the straps of her bra over her shoulders and fastened it before pulling her shirt on over her head_. 'No. No, of course not.' He paused, and then suddenly the implications of the question hit him. 'Why, haven't you?_' I'd assumed she'd just gone to get a file or something..._

'No, she has not as of yet decided to bless us with her presence.' Munch rolled his eyes. 'You know women though, she's probably fixing her hair or something...'

Elliot forced a laugh. _She left half an hour before me. She kissed me goodbye. I felt her fingers stroking the back of my neck as she slipped her tongue into my mouth. I looked out the window and watched her walk down the street and turn the corner with her MetroCard in her hand. She should have been here by now... _'Has anyone called her?'

'Tried. No answer.'

His stomach turned over. _Oh God, what if something's happened?_

'You all right, Elliot? ' Fin was staring at him again. 'She's probably just on the subway, no cell reception down there.'

Munch smirked and elbowed Fin in the ribs. 'Maybe she got laid last night and had trouble prying herself away from the lucky guy...'

_If only..._ Elliot bit his lip. 'You know, maybe I should go and look for her...'

Fin and Munch exchanged a look. 'Well, that's maybe a little extreme, Elliot-'

'Sorry I'm late!' Olivia smiled brightly as she appeared through the double doors, carrying a large styrofoam cup in one hand and a stack of case files in the other. 'I got held up at home...'

Elliot shot her a look. _You did not._

'Good morning, El.' She smiled sweetly at him. 'Good drive in?'

He gritted his teeth. 'Yes.' _Did you just go and sit somewhere reading your way through those files for an hour so that I'd get here before you and freak out?_

'Not too much traffic on Union Turnpike?'

'No.' _Why are you doing this to me?_

'Well, that's nice.' She dumped the case files on her desk and then hoisted herself up to perch on the edge of it.

Cragen cleared his throat pointedly. 'Well, if you two are quite done exchanging pleasantries, our victim's name was Sarah Martin, and she was 24 and lived in a small one-bedroom just off Union Square. At some point last Tuesday night between one and three am someone entered her apartment, sexually assaulted her, and then stabbed, beat and choked her to death.'

Olivia was still shooting the occasional glance his way, watching for a reaction, but there was no way in hell that Elliot was going to give her the satisfaction of watching him squirm. 'How'd they get in?'

'Well, that was the big question. There was no sign of forced entry, so we assumed it had to be someone she knew and had let into the apartment, which is one of the reasons we originally liked the boyfriend for it. That, and the fact that he was already well known for being a short-tempered, violent little shit.'

'OK.'

'But...' Cragen sighed. 'Not only does the bastard have an alibi, but apparently the window was open when her friend found her.'

Elliot frowned. 'But it wasn't when we got there?'

'No, the friend closed and latched it, for some reason known only to herself.'

_Fantastic._ 'There go any prints, then.'

'I know.' Cragen sighed again. 'So, now we're thinking that our guy came up the fire escape and climbed in through the open window. It could still be someone that she knew, but they were smart about it. There's no CCTV in that area of the street, and the CCTV in the bar opposite would have caught anyone going in the main door.'

'And it didn't get anyone around the time of the murder?'

'Only the boyfriend, and we already know that he was in a different apartment all night.'

'Sleeping with someone else while his girlfriend was being murdered in the same building?' Fin shook his head. 'That's pretty cold.'

'Cold or not, he didn't do it, and we're back to square one.' Cragen paused. 'Actually, no, we're worse off than we were at square one. Our crime scene's been cleared, deep-cleaned and re-let already.'

'Already?' Elliot couldn't hide his shock. 'The girl's only been dead a week!'

'What can I say, the landlord was giving us a hard time, saying that every day that we were in there was one more day of rent he was losing on his high-end squat.'

Fin grimaced. 'Nice guy. Any chance we could pin this on him?'

Munch had sat down in Fin's chair and was flipping through the case file with his feet up on the desk. 'Nope, he was in a bar with his brothers in the Bronx all night, and didn't manage to drag his hungover ass back into Manhattan until late the following afternoon.' He tossed the file back onto the desk and leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms. 'Once again, the guy's an asshole, but he's not a killer.'

'Shame,' muttered Fin. 'Now get your dirty creep feet off my desk before I have to break 'em off.'

Munch raised his eyebrows at him. 'I'll have you know that these shoes are fine Italian leather.'

Fin's eyes narrowed. 'They could be made of the skin of fucking unicorns for all I care, I don't want whatever you might have tracked down from Amsterdam all over my desk.'

'Detectives.' Cragen cleared his throat loudly and waited for them all to stop bickering and pay attention. 'While we don't have a crime scene any more, what we do have are detailed photos of it as it appeared during processing.' He lifted up a thick sheaf of colour prints and started passing them around. 'So, we'll be sitting here, looking through them, until someone sees something that we can work with.'

Munch shook his head and finally took his feet off Fin's desk. 'Damn...'

'Yes, Detective, I know it's dull but the press and therefore the higher-ups are really riding me on this. You know how it is, it's a slow season for news and a pretty young woman in a glamourous profession gets unexpectedly and dramatically murdered, it's like a frenzy.'

'Glamourous?' Elliot snorted. 'I thought she was unemployed!'

Cragen rolled his eyes. 'No, she was an 'actress' apparently, although God knows if she was ever actually in anything besides her boyfriend's experimental Futurist films.'

'He's about seventy years too late for Futurism...' muttered Munch with a smirk.

'Then where the hell was she getting all her money from, if she wasn't working?' Fin had his Narcotics head back on. 'Do you think she was doing drugs? Pretty young girl like that wouldn't have any problem getting into any of the best nightclubs or persuading the door staff to turn a blind eye.'

'Drugs are a possibility, and Fin, that's something I'd like you to look into. Call your old buddies in Narcotics and find out if any of them know her. On the other hand, though, CSU didn't find any traces of any drugs or any large amounts of cash in her apartment, so the rest of you focus on figuring out where that money came from and finding something we can use in those photographs.' Cragen dropped the rest of the files on the nearest desk. 'If anyone wants me, I'll be putting on my uniform and getting ready to go and give a press conference to a group of salivating ghouls.' He rolled his eyes again and stalked into his office, slamming the door behind him.

'Seventy years too late for Futurism?' Fin scoffed. 'What was that meant to prove besides that you have too much time on your hands and like to go to the Met to try and pick up women?'

Munch looked hurt. 'I don't know, that the boyfriend was a pretentious, unoriginal little prick?'

'He's not the only one...' Fin sat down at his desk, pointedly using the edge of an envelope to dust it off, and Munch shot him a dirty look.

Olivia smiled at Elliot. 'So, El... want to get started?'

_Oh, you don't get out of this that easy..._ Elliot waited until everyone was focused on the photographs and then scooted his chair around the desk to sit next to her. 'So, are you going to tell me what all that was about?'

'What all what was about?'

'Don't play games with me, Olivia, we both know what I'm talking about.'

'I just decided to stop on the way to work, that's all.'

'Just decided? For no reason?'

'Yes, El.'

'On this morning, of all mornings?'

'Why, is it a crime to need a large coffee first thing to wake myself up a bit?' She raised an eyebrow at him. 'We both know that you kept me up pretty late last night, El...'

'Keep your voice down!' He glanced around the room quickly, but everyone was concentrating hard on the photographs. No one wanted to be stuck doing this boring job for longer than they had to, and the first person to spot something would be the one that would get to go out and chase it down.

Olivia smiled innocently. 'Why, don't you want everyone to know how good you were?'

'Not right now, no.' _Maybe later. _ 'Look, Olivia, I'm really sorry.'

She feigned confusion. 'Sorry for what, El?'

'Well, sorry for... sorry for everything.'

'Elliot...' She sighed, and he felt her take his hand under the desk and squeeze it as she leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. 'No matter what I want, if you can't make a decision, I'm going to have to give up on waiting for you. I'm almost 45 years old, El. I want to get married and have children, and if you won't give me that, then...' She bit her lip and squeezed his hand tightly. 'I'm going to have to go and get it from someone who will.'

_Is she breaking up with me? _'Olivia, please don't do this-'

'I'm not breaking up with you, El, not yet. For better or worse, you have me. I'm yours. I always have been. But please - you can't keep doing this to me.' She smiled sadly. 'I love you, but I don't know how much longer I can take this.'

_Oh God._ 'Come on, Olivia-'

Olivia cut him off abruptly. 'Shut up, Elliot.' She was staring at a photo from the crime scene.

_What? _ 'Well, that's mature-'

'Look, just shut the fuck up for once, OK?' She grabbed the case file and started quickly leafing through it.

Elliot leaned forward to see what she was looking at. 'What have you seen?'

'In all the photos on display in her apartment, she's wearing a gold necklace, but there wasn't one on the body when it was brought in...'

'And you're thinking that our killer might have taken it with him?'

She flashed him a quick smile. 'I am.'

'That's my girl.' He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder and she smiled for a second.

'For God's sake, Elliot, if you keep groping your coworkers you're going to get hit with a sexual harassment suit.' Munch slapped him on the back as he walked past and Elliot snatched his hand away. 'Women these days, it's just one little comment and suddenly you're being sued...' He wandered over to the coffee machine, still muttering to himself about oversensitive secretarial staff.

Elliot shook his head. 'How in God's name did he manage to get a placement in this unit?'

'God only knows.' She finally found the page that she was looking for and scanned through it quickly. 'Nope, the necklace isn't on the inventory from the apartment either.' She grabbed the photo again and peered at it closely. 'It looks pretty unusual, El. I bet if we asked around we could find someone who'd tell us where it came from and who might have bought it.'

Elliot was already on his feet. 'You go get that picture blown up, I'll tell Cragen where we're going.' He smiled at her. 'Well done, Liv. I would never have seen that.'

'You would.' She smiled softly at him and he felt her hand brush against his for a second before she stood, tucking the file under one arm. 'You would.'

_**A/N: What do you think? I want to try and put in a lot more of squadroom-based scenes in this story, so we'll see how that goes... Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed it, and I'll (maybe) see you tomorrow with a new chapter of Heritage!**_


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